Football: Former CU Buffs coach Chuck Fairbanks dies at 79

Coach complied 7-26 record while in Boulder

Chuck Fairbanks, the football coach at the University of Colorado from 1979-81 runs onto the field with the team wearing the infamous blue uniforms. Fairbanks died on Tuesday. (University of Colorado)

For many longtime Colorado football fans the Chuck Fairbanks era is defined by back-to-back losses to Drake and the wardrobe malfunction that was changing the Buffs' primary uniform color from black to blue.

As word of the legendary coach's death spread amongst the CU family on Tuesday, some of Fairbanks' players remembered a fair man and a skilled leader who may have just had bad timing in Boulder.

Fairbanks, a successful head coach at Oklahoma and with the New England Patriots before a merciless 7-26 run with the Buffs from 1979-81, died in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the age of 79 after a battle with brain cancer.

"I think that people think, or it has been said, that Chuck was a failure at Colorado. I don't believe he was a failure at Colorado," said Steve Doolittle, a standout inside linebacker at CU who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1981. "Chuck was probably ahead of his time at Colorado. He was successful everywhere he was coaching. He was a winner. ...

"His terminology and technique and game plans were the best I saw. It translated to me."

In six seasons (1967-72) leading the Sooners, Fairbanks compiled a 52-15-1 record with three Big Eight championships, two Sugar Bowl wins and one Orange Bowl victory.

In 1973, Fairbanks left Oklahoma, where he was replaced by Barry Switzer, for the NFL's Patriots. He had a 46-39 record and two playoff appearances over six seasons with New England.

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After the 1978 season, Fairbanks was lured away from professional football by an opportunity to build another winner in Boulder. But his return to the Big Eight got off to a shaky start as CU had to settle a lawsuit by New England to release the coach from his Patriots contract.

According to a Sports Illustrated article from October 8, 1979, the Flatirons Club paid $200,000 to the Pats on behalf of CU, and Fairbanks agreed to give up $105,000 due him in deferred payments from New England.

All that cash bought the Buffs was three wins in 1979. CU lost eight times, including a humbling 13-9 defeat to Drake on Sept. 22 at Folsom Field.

"When Fairbanks came the boosters were pulling those strings. I think the fan base was a little upset with the athletic director (Eddie Crowder) when they let Mallory go," recalled former CU offensive lineman Bruce Alison, who was recruited by the Mallory staff and lettered for Fairbanks. "He was a tough-as-nails old school coach. I know the players were upset when Mallory was let go. Fairbanks kind of had to sell us. And he did."

Selling the fan base proved to be more difficult after CU finished 1-10 in 1980, including infamous home losses to Switzer's powerful Oklahoma team (82-42) and Drake (41-22).

The Buffs were down 52-0 at halftime in the opener at UCLA and closed the brutal campaign with a 17-14 defeat Kansas State.

Before the finale with the Wildcats, Fairbanks brought Kansas State coach Jim Dickey, one of his former assistants at Oklahoma, onto the CU bus in Manhattan for some levity.

"Chuck was a smoker and had the Clint Eastwood look with the one eye closed and he said, 'Hey boys, this here's coach (Dickey) from Kansas State. I taught him everything I know about football and he can't win a damn game either,' " Doolittle said. "In other words, Chuck was an honest guy."

And a player-friendly coach.

Dave Hestera, a Pomona (Arvada) High School standout who played at Wyoming as a freshman, got a little homesick in Laramie and decided to walk on at CU.

At the end of the 1980 season, the cash-strapped student went into Fairbanks' office and asked for a scholarship so he could remain at the university.

"He gave me one and said, 'You're my starting tight end,' " Hestera said. "He took care of me. ... After my (CU) career, Chuck made some phone calls and before the day was out some NFL teams had called me and invited me to training camp because of him."

The 1981 season started with great promise after the Buffs thrashed Texas Tech 45-27 in the opener and held a late 10-0 lead over Washington State in the second game.

"We thought, 'Man, we've got a good team. Let's do this!' " said Hestera, who has worked as the chiropractor for the CU football team over the years. "Then Washington State blocked a kick and scored a touchdown. We went three-and-out and they scored another touchdown to beat us."

The Buffs finished the season 3-8. The other highlights were an 11-10 homecoming win over Oklahoma State and a 24-21 win over Kansas State on senior day at Folsom Field.

"Going into our senior year (1981), his third year, he said, 'Let's be realistic, things aren't looking bright, we're kind of down. But if we win the opener, homecoming and our last game, that's something to remember,' " Alison said. "Those were the only three we won."

Fairbanks resigned on June 1, 1982, to become the general manager and head coach of the USFL's New Jersey Generals.

Bill McCartney stepped into a difficult situation but led CU to a national championship in 1990.

"When I got hired, I replaced Chuck and I had one meeting with him," McCartney told longtime CU sports information director Dave Plati. "He said to me, 'If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now after three years, I would recruit California and Texas hard. That would be where I would put my recruiting emphasis.'

"I found that to be very enlightening, and over time, I realized that he was right. And that's really how we rose to the top. His words were wise and prophetic."

Fairbanks was born June 10, 1933. He played football at Michigan State under legendary coach Biggie Munn and later joined Frank Kush's staff at Arizona State as a young assistant. He had a successful stint as an assistant at Houston before getting hired by Jim Mackenzie at Oklahoma and taking over the program in April 1967 when Mackenzie died of a heart attack.

Switzer credits Fairbanks for installing the wishbone at Oklahoma in 1970. Bill Belichick credits him for helping pioneer the NFL 3-4 defense and revolutionizing playbook terminology.

And those blue uniforms from the early 1980s? The credit for them actually goes to the CU Board of Regents, not the Buffs' high profile coach.

"I don't think the guys at Colorado at the time were really capable of understanding his approach," Doolittle said. "We had some fantastic players at certain positions, but for the most part they were underachievers. That's not a sleight against anyone. They just weren't big in stature. They had big hearts and they played CU football the way it was taught to them by Bill Mallory.

"Then all of a sudden this guy from the NFL comes to town and it was so different. In Chuck's playbook it all penciled out and it worked. I just don't think it translated for everyone."

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